New system to snatch Dominican Republic’s child porn peddlers

Santo Domingo.- At least 21,000 people in the Dominican Republic exchanged child pornography in the last 12 months, according the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The data were obtained through a quick test of the new system to be implemented in the country with financial and technical support from the British Embassy in the Dominican Republic and UNICEF, and executed by the Specialized Office of the Prosecutor for High Technology Crimes (PEDATEC).

PEDATECH representative Sayo Aoki said national statistics show that children and adolescents ages 12 to 19 are the majority of Internet users in Dominican Republic and that access to and use of these without proper supervision poses a great risks for their age group.

During the “Techniques to combat child pornography online,” Nicholas Fowler, United Kingdom National Criminal Investigation Directorate liaison officer in Santo Domingo, revealed that these 21,000 people consciously enter the world of child pornography.

The specialist said most people involved with online child pornography end up looking for sex with children. He said one shouldn’t believe that those involved are only foreigners visiting the country to upload, download or exchange pictures of the raping of children.

“That’s why it’s so important to address the problem now, not only to bring to justice in the Dominican Republic to people who are sharing images of children abused in other countries and other nationalities, but to protect the country’s children,” Fowler said.

In that regard, UK ambassador Chris Campbell called the new system an important and powerful tool to find people who are committing that type of crime.

PEDATEC director John Henry Reynoso stressed the new system’s importance in helping to find all those people online and thanked the British Embassy and UNICEF for their support.

Through the specialized course, international experts will bolster the knowledge of 24 officials from law enforcement, investigation and crime prosecution in the Dominican Republic, on how to implement and manage the Children Protection System.